And yet another attempt at being tolerant and ecumenical

I saw this charming little ditty at Mere Comments, here. Enjoy:

Gaia Loves Me

Gaia loves me, this I know,
For the witches tell me so:
Small ones are to her most near
As they stiffen on the bier.

Refrain:

Yes, Gaia loves me,
Yes, Gaia loves me,
Yes, Gaia loves me,
The witches tell me so.

Gaia has no hand to save
From the terrors of the grave;
Rather she's the gayest when
She consumes the sons of men. Refrain.

Gaia minds not what we do,
Whom we swindle, slay, or scr-w:
This her single easy law:
Come to thy devouring Maw. Refrain.

Though we fall to evil, she
Waits upon us patiently,
Waits her time while some poor chap
Rots the sooner from the clap. Refrain.

Look not for the tender heart
Should your little child depart:
Heart and head of stone are hers,
Image of her worshippers. Refrain.

Gaia won't discriminate:
Wide the mouth and broad the gate.
Heav'n may shut its doors to sin,
But there's room in Gaia's inn. Refrain.

Private she and most discreet,
Makes our human frailty sweet,
Decks her charnel house for trysts
Fit for fools and feminists. Refrain.

Carbonaceous is her crust;
Nothing else is human dust,
Born to wail for one brief breath
Till she mothers it to death. Refrain.

Gaia stuffs us all and some:
Cares not how her children come,
Never dainty in her feed --
Fried or stewed or fricaseed. Refrain.

Gaia loves me, I affirm,
Gaia loves the lowly worm;
Worm and maggot are her friends
In the feast that never ends.

Final Refrain:

Yes, Gaia loves me,
Yes, Gaia loves me,
Yes, Gaia loves me,
The numbskulls tell me so.

What we did in preparation for Great Lent (Part III)

The Sunday of the Last Judgment

Epistle (1 Cor 8:8-9:2)

Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do. But make sure that this liberty of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. If someone sees you, with your knowledge, reclining at table in the temple of an idol, may not his conscience too, weak as it is, be "built up" to eat the meat sacrificed to idols? Thus through your knowledge, the weak person is brought to destruction, the brother for whom Christ died. When you sin in this way against your brothers and wound their consciences, weak as they are, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause my brother to sin. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? Although I may not be an apostle for others, certainly I am for you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.


Gospel (Mt 25:31-46)

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations 15 will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


Kontakion (Tone I)

When You, O God, shall come to the Earth in glory,
All things shall tremble
And the river of fire shall flow before Your Judgment Seat;
The Books shall be opened and hidden things disclosed;
Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,
And make me worthy to stand at your right hand, O Righteous Judge.

Music in Russian Standard (Obikhod)

What we did in preparation for Great Lent (Part II)

The Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Epistle (1 Cor 6:12-20)

"Everything is lawful for me," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful for me," but I will not let myself be dominated by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ's members and make them the members of a prostitute? Of course not! (Or) do you not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For "the two," it says, "will become one flesh." But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

Gospel (Lk 15:11-32)

Then he said, "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."' So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"


Kontakion (Tone 3)

I have recklessly forgotten your Glory, O Father;
And among sinners I have scattered the riches which You had given me.
Therefore I cry to you like the Prodigal:
I have sinned before you, O compassionate Father;
Receive me, a penitent, and make me one of Your hired servants.

Music in Russian Standard (Obikhod),
Greek Chant
And special melody (Podoben)

With all due respect to Darwin Catholic

Forget Intelligent Design in the schoolyard. I for one would be satisfied if one could find it in modern American manufacturing.

For the Martyr Andrea of Rome in Trebizond (February 5)

Edward Yong has related the story of the neo-martyr, Fr. Andrea Santaro, of the Diocese of Rome, who was sent to Trebizond in what is now Turkey, and who was lately martyred there. A brief story of his life and martyrdom may be found here, here and here.

Edward has suggested that a petition be sent to Rome (in perfect Latin), requesting of Pope Benedict for a new line to be added to the Litaniae Sanctorum - 'a tyrannide Hagarenorum, libera nos Domine'. He has also suggested that a troparion and a kontakion be written for the martyr.

It will probably be three years before I would be able to write the petition (at least by my present schedule of studies), but I offer this troparion and kontakion for the holy martyr:

Troparion (Tone 4)

O Holy Martyr Andrea,
You gave your life for the sake of your Church,
As another Nicholas you defended the poor from dishonor,
And in the Church of the Lord you received your crown.
You turned your back on your persecutors,
Because your eyes were fixed upon the Lord.
Pray that our souls be saved.

Kontakion (Tone 4)

Let us praise the holy Martyr Andrea
For by the witness of his life Christ our God has shown forth,
He went to a distant land to protect the poor,
And preached our Lord Christ to those who but knew Him in part,
Let us cry to him: “Rejoice in Christ God, O glory of martyrs.”

What we did in preparation for Great Lent this week (Part I)

Kontakion:

Let us flee from the pride of the Pharisee!
Let us learn humility from the Publican’s tears.
Let us cry to our Savior:
“Have mercy on us,
O only merciful one.

Written music in standard Russian Court Chant (Obikhod), Russianized “Greek” Chant, or Special Melody (Podoben).

Epistle (2 Timothy 3.10-15)

My son Timothy, Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Gospel (Luke 18.10-14)

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Our priest told us in his sermon that our job was to be merciful, to endure sufferings in patience, and that our responsibility was to pray, to fast and to give alms, that is, to assist in the process of the peace of others, by acquiring a spirit of peace, and by acting in the spiritual and physical worlds.

Editor’s Note: I will endeavor to be more proactive, and to provide the Orthodox texts for the preparatory weeks of Lent a few days beforehand, as I believe that it is far better to light one small stick of dynamite than to curse the silence (or something like that).

An essay toward the psychology of dissent.

I highly recommend Fr. Powell's most recent comment in his excellent weblog: Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, entitled "On the habits and spirit of dissent". It is a suscinct, precise, and eloquent statement as regards what I call "the psychology of schism". Do read it.